Behind Enemy Lines
by Fire of the Phoenix
Summary: AU Our heroes find themselves living through Wutai war and Tifa is a skilled undercover spy, but what happens when Sephiroth the most feared general of the enemy blows her cover? SephirothTifaCloud
1. Chapter 1

Behind Enemy Lines

Summary: AU Our heroes find themselves living through Wutai war and Tifa is a skilled undercover spy, but what happens when Sephiroth the most feared general of the enemy blows her cover? SephirothTifaCloud

Disclaimer: unfortunately I own nothing but the plot dancing in my mind and all the other useless crap in there. FFVII is the property of Square Enix.

**Chapter 1 – The work of a spy**

Seventh Heaven was unusually busy tonight, the bar was filled with raucous laughter and the air was thick with smoke. Tonight's patrons were mostly soldiers who'd just been relieved from their posts in frontline trenches on the Western Continent. Tension had been building for years between Shinra and Wutai, and relationships only worsened when the states of Cosmos and Gongaga officially allied themselves with Wutai to form the Frontier Alliance. Communications between the two sides broke down and for months the world balanced on a knife edge, people held their breath. Then at 2:25am of the 15th of March, a Wutai ship was blasted by a missile killing all 38 people on board. Shinra claimed the vessel was ferrying high grade weapons to terrorist groups, Wutai accused Shinra of obliterating a merchant ship and its innocent crew. Not a day later Wutai declared war and thing began a rapid downhill slide with months of vicious and bloody fighting. Eventually it became apparent that the Frontier army had no chance of overtaking the western continent, so tactics were changed and the Frontier troops were told to dig down and go defensive. Despite numerous attempts assaults and carefully planned attacks on the trenches, the Shinra troops were unable to break through so they too were told to dig. Thing out at sea weren't proceeding any better, because while Wutai's navy was by far superior, their army were no match for the elite SOLDIERs of Shinra. So while Wutai ships controlled the seas, they stayed clear of the Eastern continent. It was clear to both sides now that whoever was the first to mass send fighter jets into mass production first would most likely win the war.

Tifa had been operating as a spy in Midgar since before the war had begun and it was now her permanent post. Seventh Heaven was a bar popular with Shinra's SOLDIERs and mercenaries and it wasn't hard for the young woman to gather information, especially when she wore her tiny black skirt and low cut tank top. But tonight, Tifa wasn't after small fry, at this very moment five high ranking Shinra employees were under the roof.

The 21 year old woman left her two other co-workers at the counter as she carefully carried two bottles of their finest wine up stairs to their important guests. She knocked politely on the heavy soundproof oak door and waited, her heart pounding nervously. She'd been successfully passing information to the Eastern Continent for just over two years now, but even the most skilled spy would be a fool for feeling no fear as they were about to step into a room with some of their most powerful enemies.

A gruff voice called for her to enter. Taking a deep breath to steady herself and hitching her already short skirt up slightly more, Tifa twisted the shiny brass doorknob. Once inside she flashed her sweetest smile as she quickly scanned over the scene before her, she recognised every one of them from their profiles. Five men and one woman sat at a round mahogany table, it was obvious they'd been in deep conversation before she had arrived. The man closest to her with dark hair was Reeve Tuesti, head of redevelopment and civil engineering. Sitting to his right was an overweight man with a large beard named Heidegger who Head of Shinra's Public Safety Maintenance Department, which was just a euphemism for Shinra's military. The woman sitting next to him couldn't have been more different, she was blonde and beautiful but her expression showed she clearly knew it, and according to Tifa's sources her name was Scarlet and officially she was a personal assistant of President Shinra, but everyone knew she was more like his personal whore than anything. She was currently murmuring to a gaunt looking man with greasy hair, Tifa had heard rumours about the cruel experiments Hojo did in the name of weapons research and just looking at the man made her want to shudder. All four of them wore expensive designer suits and silk shirts, with Scarlet's being significantly more revealing than her male counterparts. The other two men were powerful leaders of Shinra's armed forced. One of them had dark hair and slight stubble dusting his chin, his name was Angeal Hewley, he was Brigadier and in terms of military power he was second only to the man sitting beside him. And last but not at all least the young woman turned her attention to the General himself, Sephiroth. His long silver hair contrast sharply with the black leather coat he wore and at his side was his almost equally famous sword, Masamune. To the people of this land he was hailed as a hero and women swooned at the sight of him, but to his enemies he the most feared man on Gaia.

As she poured wine for Tuesti, the AFI agent looked up and suddenly her ruby orbs locked with green-blue ones that glowed with mako. His eyes would have been beautiful had they not been so cold and merciless. It was only a split second, but Tifa felt like she was naked before his gaze and that he had pierced right through her soul and she couldn't help but bite her lip anxiously. When she had to fill his glass, it took all of her self control to keep from trembling, and Tifa was most relieved when Sephiroth chose to completely ignore her. And despite her edginess she managed to catch a glimpse of what Scarlet was saying to Reeve before he subtly shushed her. From her lip reading abilities thought the blonde had said the words 'Operation Strike' and 'Turks'.

When she finished serving drinks the undercover agent left the bottle and two more unopened ones in the room and when she'd shut the door securely behind her, leaned against a wall and practically collapsed from nerve wracking experience. She didn't have much now, but hopefully the listening bug hidden in one of the corks would pick up plenty. But Cloud doing his rounds tonight and due to stop by soon, she supposed she give him what she had now and just tell him the rest next time or if it was urgent she would use another communications channel.

Tifa steadied herself before arranging herself again as Tiffany, the shy yet bubbly barmaid.

*************************************************************

After another hour of drink serving, kicking out drunken brawlers and warding off gropers Tifa heard the low rumble of a motorcycle. Sure enough when she opened the old wooden door, she found Cloud sitting on the powerful machine pulling off his helmet. Official the young man worked a delivery service, but unofficially he was the go between link between undercover spies in Midgar and HQ in Wutai.

'Safe journey, I hope?' asked Tifa politely.

'Clear road all the way,' replied Cloud as he began unloading glass bottles.

Tifa nodded, Cloud had just told her that her previous message had gotten through and they weren't under suspicion. After the blonde finished placing the exotic liquor in a crate, the supposed barmaid disappeared inside for a moment to deposit the goods in a storage room then returned carrying a glass of beer.

'Thanks,' said Cloud as he gratefully accepted and quenched his parched throat.

The young spy watched her childhood friend sadly, they'd been out of contact for five years before she took this job and by chance was reunited with him. Both parties were both so shocked they'd frozen on the spot, Tifa didn't doubt that if they weren't in the presence of company she'd have suffocated him in a hug there and then, but that wasn't to be and the two friend spent the remainder of the afternoon faking introductions and forcing polite conversation, unable to ask what had really occurred in the past number of years. Unbelievably that had been their second chance reunion. The first had been when she was 16.

_Flash back_

_She'd just started officially working as an agent for FAI, and was heading for a routine morning briefing and as she was walking past the receptionist she didn't see a security guard rushing around the corner. The two collided resulting in her sitting sprawled on the spotlessly white tile floor, huffing she looked up to see exactly who had run into her. As Tifa looked up to his face she gasped and her jaw dropped, even after eight years there was no mistaking that face with those vivid bright blue eyes and the crazy chocobo yellow hair. The hand which he'd instinctively offered as help was frozen midair in shock._

'_T-Tifa?' he'd asked disbelievingly._

'_Cloud!' she choked before ignoring the hand and leaping up to throw her arms around her old friend. 'God, I can't believe it's really you!'_

_As he embraced her back Cloud said softly 'Neither can I, Tifa. You just vanished one day and never sent a word to say where you'd gone.'_

_Tifa looked honestly into Cloud's eyes so he could see the sadness and guilt she truly did feel. 'I'm sorry, Cloud. I wish I could have told you, but I didn't know I was leaving till the very last minute too. My father arranged for me to be sent here in hopes of keeping me safe.' _

_Cloud nodded, she'd been his best friend when they were children and her sudden departure without so much as a goodbye had left him feeling hurt. But he'd moved on and honestly hadn't expected to see her here of all places, but it was a pleasant surprise, one that made him happier than he could say. _

'_That's okay, Tifa. After all these years, it's good to see you again.'_

'_What about you, huh? How'd you end up in a place like this?' And since when have you looked so hot, Tifa added mentally, she couldn't help but notice his handsome features and lean but muscular body, and damn the fact that even in heels she had to tilt her head a little to look him in the eye. _

'_I could ask the same of you,' Cloud counted raising an eyebrow._

'_Right, how about we catch up at lunch?' asked Tifa smiling. 'When's your break?'_

'_One till two.'_

'_Great, meet me in the lobby then. Oh God, I still –'_

'_Tifa! Hurry up!'_

_Annoyed but having no choice Tifa sighed._

'_Damn it, guess I'll see you later.'_

'_Yeah, later.' _

_She gave a final friendly shoulder squeeze before jogging towards her partner._

_End flash back_

The lunch she'd shared with Cloud that day was only the start of them reaffirming their bonds, and even with the blonde's naturally introverted personality, it didn't take long for the two to become close again. But as the global peace situation became more volatile, Tifa was sent on increasingly lengthy assignments and she spent less time with Cloud and all of her other friends. Then she'd received her orders to become permanently stationed in Midgar. It seemed so cruel, after eight long the two childhood friend had finally been reunited to spend limited but enjoyable time together, only to be torn apart again less than two years later.

Three years had passed since then and she only had a rough sketch of Cloud's life in that time, and likewise he didn't know much more about her recent past. They'd agreed for the sake of their safety to keep a façade of casual friendship between business partners, and Tifa hated every moment she couldn't talk and act freely with him.

'You okay?'

Cloud's gentle question shook Tifa from her unhappy reflections.

'Yeah, just tired,' she said running her hand over her face and before suddenly remembering the info she'd picked up earlier. 'Oh and this is what we need for the next shipment.'

Tifa pressed two sheets of crumpled paper into Cloud's warm hands, to anyone who didn't know how to decode the message it would look like an obscure list of alcohol and a cocktail recipe, but the blonde understood and gave a small nod.

'I have to go now,' he said swing his leg back over the vehicle.

'I know,' Tifa sighed for once dropping all pretence for a second and simply staring into his sapphire eyes, and for a fleeting moment they weren't spies in a war ravaged world, they were just two people, two old friends.

'I'll see you in two weeks,' said Cloud before he hit the ignition and sped off, disappearing in the maze of Midgar's streets and back alleys.

_Come back safely _Tifa silently prayed before arranging herself as Tiffany aka Tif the shy yet bubbly barmaid. She smiled in the all too practiced way as she returned to stand behind the main bench with her co-works Jessie and Aerith. Though she hadn't revealed her true identity to the two girls, going through the same day in day out routine with them had slowly drawn the three of them together and there was a mutual bond of affection between them.

As Aerith trot around delivering drinks, Jessie nudged Tifa under the ribs.

'Hey Tif, I reckon Mr Spiky's got it in for our Princess, huh?' she muttered grinning widely.

It didn't take long for the young brunette woman to find the pair. A soldier with dark hair that could rival Cloud's in terms of gravity defiance was casually chatting with a slightly blushing Aerith.

'Mmm, looks like a bit of player though so we'd better keep a close eye on them.'

The next few hours flew by and when the girls were finally able to close up for the night, Tifa was tired to the bone. She walked slowly down the filthy streets back to her house and was almost at her door when her instincts suddenly sent danger sirens screaming in her head. Confused and alarmed the young woman instantly dropped into a defensive stance and turned around expecting maybe a thief or two, but she saw nothing. Suddenly Tifa felt an arm grab her waist and before she could retaliate a hand flew up to cover her mouth and nose causing her to immediately inhale the potent fumes. Tifa felt her body slacken and her eyelids become heavy, realising she was in deep shit she tried to fight the drug but it was no use. Less than ten seconds later a herd of stampeding chocobos wouldn't have woken the spy.

A/N: Yes I know cliffie, but I hope you liked it. This is my first fic so any reviews would be extremely, ultra helpful. Till next time MUAHAHAHA.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – Captive**

A/N: Firstly thank you to IWOBYD, KCVII, pangpond and Gen for their reviews, you guys are awesome! Second while I was writing this chap I realised that I've made Tifa quite a bit more cynical than canon in FFVII, but yeah given the past I've given her I think it's justified. Lol, this is fandom, these things are allowed to happen.

Disclaimer: Square Enix owns Final Fantasy VII. I'm just a person who procrastinates way too much.

Tifa kept her eyes closed and lay still as she felt the fog of sleep lift slowly form her mind and body, a few minutes of analysis and the element of surprise was a valuable thing, and as young woman recalled her abduction, it may well save her life.

The first thing the brunette was acutely aware of was her parched throat and the thick blindfold covering her eyes. She soon also established she was lying in an extremely uncomfortable position on the floor or possibly a large table with her arms restrained behind her back. When she sensed the cold, hard metal cuffing her wrists, her heartbeat quickened and she was even further alarmed when she realised her feet were also chained together and she'd been frisked and was without any weapons. But despite her situation Tifa kept a rein on her emotion and maintained her facade. Perhaps the only very small positive in this situation was that she was almost certain her captor was not present at the moment, which at least left the FIA agent the element of surprise which she could use to her advantage to escape.

'Tell me Miss Lockhart, how long do you intend to continue this charade for?'

Tifa sharply inhaled sharply in shock, not only did this bastard know she was awake but more importantly he also knew her true identity.

'What do you want?' she spat and struggling desperately against her restraints.

'Now, now,' he said in a low mocking voice 'that's not a very nice way to talk to someone. Perhaps I should teach you some manners.'

Tifa gasped as a heavy boot slammed into her back grinding her body into the ground and as she was prepared to buck the offending foot off her she froze. Pressed against her bare and vulnerable neck was a smooth and deadly blade of metal.

'If you wish to keep that pretty head of yours attached to your neck, you will submit and learn to behave. You will comply to my demands and you shall not taint my name by saying it aloud, you will address me as either Sir or Master.'

The field agent felt her kidnapper increase the pressure of the blade against her jugular and just cut deep enough to draw blood. It was a clear threat, but Tifa knew he wouldn't kill her, well not until he got what information he wanted at least, or else she would be dead already, so she kept her mouth closed, refusing to yield to her unseen enemy.

'I am giving you one chance Miss Lockhart, either way I will get what I want, it is your choice how we do this.'

_Then you have no choice but to it the hard way,_ Tifa thought determinedly. If she went down she would go down fighting and without the shame of spilling information that would condemn her loved ones. Besides she had to live to destroy Shinra and kill the man who had murdered her father. Tifa wouldn't lie to herself and call it justice as some people excused it for, it was revenge plain and simple and it might be immoral and even perhaps logically groundless, but as famously said 'all is fair in love and war'. With that thought Tifa steeled her resolve and banished the lurking fear that had been creeping in on her to the furthest corners of her mind.

The seconds crawled by and Tifa could feel her blood steadily ooze from the gash and slide along her skin before dripping away, but that didn't matter to her. Clamed by reminding herself of why she had chosen to become a spy in the first place and of her resolve, Tifa held her silence.

Unexpectedly the foot bearing down upon her back lifted and the sword too was removed almost making Tifa frown, what was he planning to do now?

'I have no time for your naive stubbornness and stupidity, I will return in five days to see if you are more willing. You would do well to remember that a dog should not bite the hand that feeds it.'

The last sentence was said with such superior mocking that it brought her anger to surface again.

'You're the dog, you Shinra trash!'

Tifa knew she shouldn't have and that she would be punished for such an insult but for the moment she didn't care, she hated Shinra and all things associated with the corrupt organization and she wanted him to know it and feel her laothing. She clenched her jaws and braced herself as she heard her captor shift his feet closer to her and both her instincts and mind told her what would happen next. A booted foot slammed ruthlessly into her stomach, the force from the blow also sending the young woman skidding across the concrete into a wall. Though Tifa's mid section was in agony and she was sure she'd have severe bruising and some internal bleeding, she knew she was lucky her spin hadn't crashed into the cement with more force. Groaning Tifa lay on her side and reflexively curled herself into a ball. As she lay moaning in pain, she distantly heard a door being slam shut.

*******************************************************

She didn't know how long she'd been here for. She didn't know if it was night or day. She didn't know how to escape.

Tifa assumed five days hadn't passed yet as her abductor had not returned to interrogate her yet, but there way of knowing whether he was telling the truth or not. For all the she knew he might've left for a more important mission and left her to rot, he might've already uncover the information he required and decided to let her die slowly of starvation, hell he might even be dead by now killed by a lethal allergy to peanuts. The young spy snorted with laughter at the last idea, then wondered if she was losing her sanity, seriously what kind of sane person would be giggling in this sort of situation? She was trapped, chained, blind, dehydrated, starved and suffering from insomnia.

By now the AFI agent was sure her sleep deprivation was caused by the drugs that were spiked in her only water source. Since she had become suspicious, Tifa had avoided drinking all together and only allowed herself to occasionally wet her chapped lips. Though her throat was parched and the stale air she was breathing felt like it was sandpapering her trachea, she remained resilient. In her current state, she couldn't think properly and if her captor was to come and torture her now or any time soon, she didn't trust her muddled and drugged up brain not to let something important slip from her mouth.

Her stomach suddenly chose to make its empty presence know again. Tifa moaned, if she didn't know any better she would have sworn the organ was slowly digesting itself and if she didn't get food she would be left with a gaping hole in her mid-drift. But unlike her throat which felt constantly raw, the brunette knew her hunger pains came and went and would disappear again in due time. Doing her best to ignore the pleas of her stomach for sustenance, Tifa shifted slightly so that she was sitting with her shoulder and head against the wall. The sound of her chains rattling and clanking as the moved seemed impossibly loud in the confines of her dungeon.

_It was dark. There only light was coming from the pale silvery glow from the waning moon outside her window, Tifa could just make out the black silhouette of a man._

'_Wake up, Tifa wake up.'_

_The eight year old girl instantly recognized the deep familiar voice of her father that was now laced with urgency. Tifa drowsily sat up and blinked in confusion._

'_Papa what's wrong?'_

'_Get dressed, quickly darling.'_

_The mayor's daughter frowned but complied. As she pulled on her clothes, the young girl grew worried. She might've only be eight but she was no fool, she knew about the war, she knew her all the meetings and talks in the town square were about what to do before the war arrived in Nibelheim. _

'_Papa, are the soldiers coming to Nibelheim?' Tifa asked biting her lip as she tied her shoelaces._

'_Maybe, but they're not here now Tifa,' replied her father as he took her dainty hand in his much larger one and lead her downstairs. _

_When the front door was opened Tifa was surprised to see a black car with its driver's side window rolled down. A young woman with short hair wearing a stern expression on her face sat behind the wheel. Her father squat down so he was at eye level with her._

'_Where are we going, Papa?'_

_Tifa's father looked down and took a deep breathe before looking his daughter straight in the eye._

'_Remember how we went on holiday to Wutai earlier this year and we stayed with one of Daddy's friends and he had a little girl who you played with called Yuffie? You're going to be staying with them for a while. This nice lady here works with me is a good friend of mine and she'll be taking you to Wutai. Now this is important so pay attention to what I say to you, Tifa. Remember how I told you that lying is bad, but sometimes it's okay if it's to protect people you love? Well, now is one of those times. This lady's name is Lisa Hillcrest and from now on you will tell people she is your aunt. If anyone asks you will you say lived in Midgar with your parents before they died in a car accident – '_

_The woman who Tifa had just found out would be her 'aunt' gave a polite cough._

'_Excuse me for interrupting, sir, but I believe I can fill your daughter in on the story later, time is not a luxury we have at present.'_

_Mr Lockhart sighed and in a rare show of affection pulled his daughter into a tight embrace. Tifa could feel the rough stubble on the side of his of face, smell his unique tobaccoish scent and hear his deep breathing. But most of all Tifa felt warm, safe and loved, that nothing in the world could possibly harm her here, wrapped in her father's arms. After what could have been five seconds or five hours, Tifa's father gently tried released his arms, but the young girl refused to let go. The eight year old usually never cried but at the moment tears cascade freely down her face._

'_W-why c-can't you c-come wi-th-th me?' she sobbed._

'_Oh Tifa, I wish more than anything that I could go with you! I wouldn't leave you unless there was absolutely no other way. But I have to look after all the other people here too.'_

'_But I-I love you, Papa!'_

'_I love too darling, more than anything in whole world. I promise that I'll come for you, I promise I'll see you again in Wutai.'_

_Tifa had stopped her crying now but was still clinging furiously to her father's neck._

'_Come on Tifa, if you let go we can make a pinky promise.' _

_The mayor's daughter considered for a while before reluctantly releasing her father's neck. She stood unhappily as the pair entwined their smallest fingers, but was filled with childish reassurance after the ritual was completed, after all her father had never broken a promise to her so there was no way her Papa could break a pinky promise._

_Tifa's father kissed her one last time on the forehead before ushering her into the automobile. The young girl watched her father from the rear window as he grew smaller the smaller till he vanished completely when the vehicle turned around a bend. _

Tifa woke with a start, she hadn't even noticed that she'd managed to fall asleep. She sighed when she thought about how dramatically her life had changed since then. As her father had planned she went on to live in the Wutai Royal Palace where she spent twelve years under the guise Tiffany Hillcrest, orphaned niece palace servant, Lisa Hillcrest.

Her father's had left her many secret documents and stated he wished for his real identity and work to be revealed to his daughter upon her fifteenth birthday, but it seemed Tifa had inherited her father's brilliance at the intelligence game and discovered the information through her own means not long after she turned twelve. That day the tiny flame of hope she had cherished inside her heart that her beloved father was alive was extinguished by both numerous classified reports and the confirmation from her mentor.

Shortly after he had sent his only daughter to Wutai, SOLDIERs had launched a surprise attack during the dead of night and razed the whole village before capturing her father and imprisoning him. Despite the best efforts of Frontier Allied Intelligence, they were unable to locate Mr Lockhart alive. His corpse, which bore the evidence of much physical torture, had been found by chance along a remote stretch of river. Lisa told Tifa that they believed her father had resisted till the end and refused to yield any information, but to the young girl it was cold comfort.

With the realisation of the harsh brutality of how not only her father but the her friends in Nibelheim and the people of the once free world had been made suffer, Tifa wept and swore and vowed to follow in her father's footsteps and would live to see Shinra's downfall. Perhaps back then the only thing that had stopped her turning completely bitter and bent on revenge was the support and love of her best friend Yuffie, the mischievous and carefree ninja princess.

Thinking of the vow she'd made nine years ago and her close Wutain friend, the female spy forced her herself abandon her reverie. There would be time to reminisce later she thought, right now she had more than enough to deal with at the present. And now that she could actually think straight again, perhaps she could do something about her situation. There was no way she would be able to break or unlock her shackles but Tifa could feel the blindfold beginning to loosen. Like a snake trying to shed its skin, Tifa rubbed and scraped the fabric against the wall. Just when the she felt the coarse strip of material had really begin to slacken and begin to slide down, Tifa froze.

It was the unmistakeable sound of the soft clicking of a door unlocking and opening. While she forced herself to take steady breaths, the spy could not stop the erratic pounding of her heart or the cold sweat that beaded on forehead. With each steady, powerful step, Tifa's dread mounted and he heart raced faster. He halted inches from her lithe frame, the echo of his footfalls faded into nothingness only to be claimed by a thick, smothering silence. The air was thick with tension and Tifa braced herself for the physical abuse she knew that would inevitably come as taut and over strained nerves were stretched to breaking point.

'Allow me to assist you with that Miss Lockhart.'

For a moment Tifa forgot how to breathe, had she really gone crazy that soon? The young agent's confusion and shocked only increased when the hand she expected to strike her instead moved almost delicately to untangle her hair from the blindfold before proceeding to untie it.

Tifa remained still as her captor continued his work, she was completely stupefied by this sudden nonviolent and unaggressive behaviour. As the brunette convinced herself that her enemy was just messing with her phyc and possibly insane himself, the blindfold fell revealing a sight that Tifa never expected to see.

The young woman felt as though her body had been thrown into icy water and her brain had shot circuited. There crouching above her with those cold, piercing eyes and malicious smile was the imposing and most feared man of the Shinra military.

'.... Sephiroth'

A/N: Not the most surprising cliff hanger I guess, but I couldn't resist some sort of semi-dramatic and shocking (for Tifa at least) entry for Sephy. I know there wasn't much interaction between the pair and this chap was mostly focused on Tifa's past but, I guarantee you more SephxTifa action next chapter.

Now hit the review button, you know you want to! XD


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